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Looking and seeing

Tay Kay Chin, one of Singapore’s most well-known photographer, in an interview in 2005:

People looking at ordinary scenes in life translated into pictures often have one of the two reactions – “boring” or “hmm, why haven’t I see it all these years”. I think people who think they know everything in life or photography need to occasionally take five steps backward and ask: I am looking, but am I seeing? Because of the ease in which a photograph can be made, people have now forgotten to ask the other question: why or why not? I think many people have forgotten photography’s principle role – preserving memories.